In what was some brutally bad basketball last night, John Henson led the woeful Milwaukee Bucks into Chicago against a Bulls team more battered up than a candy bar at a state fair… and the Bucks actually won! It’s horrifying to think in today’s NBA that a guy like Henson might have been the most polished offensive player on the court for EITHER TEAM. It was brutal. This was the game I made the Yahoo highlights for, and man, it was more of a wreck than if you went out partying and decided that Lindsay Lohan would be your DD. But for fantasy, whew-ee if you’re a Henson owner! Huge rainbow line of 25/14/2/3/6. It was so good from the big man that Larry Sanders punched a wall. But the icing on the cake, was this preposterous rainbow shot to close out the rainbow night. I love the Bulls announcers reacting to that. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Good thing he didn’t take that shot in Cowboys Stadium, that mighta hit the scoreboard! It feels really good seeing Henson going off, as he was a guy I ranked really high (#100 exactly) and have recommended him over a lot of fringe-wire adds through the young season. His stats are helping fill all the Andre Drummond voids I have! Win some, lose some… Henson is obviously a must-own in all leagues, and I think can maintain solid production playing at the 4 when The Colonel is back. Here’s what else I saw last night in hoopsland:

Brandon Knight – The real boyfriend of mine on the Bucks. Milwaukee had nothing going on offense as Ekpe Udoh is a huge zero out there and Khris Middleton couldn’t get anything going on the move with a bum ankle. He just stood on the perimeter. So it was all Knight chucking up shots going 8-23 with a solid 19/10/2 line, career-high-ing in boards. About halfway through the first quarter, I made a mental note to rave about his energy boarding the ball, as he was all over the place. Tough line of 6 TOs was no bueno, but one was on a questionable charge call (that the referees had to confer on) and a pass that went through Udoh’s hands and should’ve been on Ekpe. Long story short, Knight still needs to be owned in all leagues, as he’s been a solid multi-cat contributor the past 7 and cutting down on the TOs last night notwithstanding.

Giannis Antetokounmpo – For all his upside, looked lost out there. Nay, should I say, “Deer in the headlights?” Eh probably not… Played one of the worst 10-minute stints you could have, going 0-1 FG 1-2 FT and 1 Pt as his only stat with 2 TOs. On D, he made Mike Dunleavy look like Larry Bird. I like Giannis’ future, but this was the first time I saw an extended look of him and it was brutal.

Ersan Ilyasova – Thinking back to his perception early in pre-ranks, I didn’t weigh how much Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings slashing all game helped his spot up shooting last year. Because he had no open looks last night, had to post up and take fadeaways for jumpers, and that’s just not his game. Looks like the ankle is still bothering him some too, just not explosive at all. 10/1/1/2/0 with no threes in just over 31 minutes off the bench has me a sad panda…

O.J. Mayo – At least figured out he should dime the ball given his shot was atrocious. 2-12 but racked up 7 dimes. You know it’s time to turn the page when Mayo gets 12 shots to Knight’s 23… Hah!

Joakim Noah – Sat out with a bad thigh. He wore a tight skirt into the trainer’s room and when he had it examined pulled a Sharon Stone… Man that was mean! I almost want to erase it, but it made me laugh.

Tony Snell – Again, for deep leaguers, I thought he looked good! The Bulls had 8 players suited up last night, so he obviously got a lot of run (38 mins) for 13/6/3/0/2 with a trey. I think working his way into 14-teamer discussion, which I think is fairly bold. Worth a look.

Kirk Hinrich – Shot 0-10. I think it’s time for a new visor prescription…

Marquis Teague – The most preposterous 6 assist game I’ve ever seen. At least 4 of them were garbage passes to Dunleavy who threw up a long jumper on the move. Henson also destroyed two of Teague’s drives with monster swats and he looked horrified to take three-pointers, hesitating on one, then realized he had to chuck it up with the shot clock running down and missed rim. Man the Bulls looked so bad…

Carmelo Anthony – …speaking of bad… The Knicks are just… man…. Melo had a fine night for fantasy though, with 29/8/3 on 12-19.

Raymond Felton – Only 19 minutes, exiting early with a re-injured hamstring. Reports are saying he might get shut down a while. Droppable in most leagues, but stay tuned for updates throughout the day.

Pablo Prigioni – Racked up 9 assists in 27 minutes. Former fill-in starter Beno Udrih didn’t even get into the game. If you need a speculative add in the very deep leagues, Prigs is your Rice-A-Roni.

Kyrie Irving – Now that’s what you’ve been holding out for! 37/11. Now given it was against Felton, who didn’t have to dress up like an old man to look like one, and Prigioni, who just plain is an old man. Still, nice to see.

Paul George – Had an atrocious first half, but then did what ELITE players do and turned it around. ELITE line of 17/3/4/2/0 with three threes and 6 TOs. Ok, not so much on that one, but I have to use my quota every George reference before being chased out of Razzball by angry commenters with pitch forks. Hey, it’s all good fun, and I’ve reiterated multiple times he’s an absolute superstar in real life, but in fantasy, he has a few slight downers. Not like I’m calling him a sell or anything!

Roy Hibbert – A big reason why George only took 11 shots. You feed your big against the Heat! 10-15 24/5.

Terrence Ross – Got a start! Made sense in this one with Kawhi Leonard the opposing 3, but Ross struggled going 4-13 for 14/4/1/0/1 with 5 TOs. Listen, I like Ross, I love the upside, but there’s just a lot of volatility and change with Greivis Vasquez now there and an overall shaken, not stirred line-up makeover.

DeMar DeRozan – 19 Pts, but 7 Asts?!?!?! Where’d this rogue stat that isn’t scoring-related come from?!?!?! A season-high by 2, but it is worth noting that now in his 5th season, his Asts have progressed from 0.7, 1.8, 2.0, 2.5, to now 3.1 a game this year. A sign a player is improving his overall game – of course with the 21.5 Pts per this year. Oh man, the hate I got in June calling him a sleeper… Still a tad of a sell-high as I don’t think the Rudy Gay trade automatically means even better things coming, but other owners in your league might and you can use it as a selling point. And you’ll be able to sell for much higher than draft-day money.

Amir Johnson – Staying hot! 9-11 for 19/9. Worth an add in most leagues, two big games in a row has me feeling a lot better than just the one.

Jonas Valanciunas – He’s got a countdown. I don’t know when to, but at some point I have to pull the plug. LL for 14 Pts on 6-8 shooting (2-2 FT) is fantastic, but only 4 boards and 4 TOs with no blocks. Now, given this was against a really tough Spurs team, but I gotta stop make excuses for the fellah at some point. I’m a battered fantasy LL wife… “Why is Valanciunas still your buy-low recommendation, JB?” “I– I– fell down some stairs!”

San Antonio Spurs – Had 7 guys go for double figures. And of course, Kawhi was not one of them. The most fantasy infuriating good-in-real-life team in history.

Shelvin Mack – Got hot! 7-9 for a 17/6 game. Still think it’s hilarious all the love Dennis Schroder got. Also hilarious that Jeff Teague also went 17/6. But Teague did more across the board despite shooting much worse…. Is it sad that box scores make me laugh sometimes? Yet I just don’t laugh at Modern Family the few episodes I’ve seen…

Minnesota Timberwolves – Put up 121 points, rocked Detroit by 27 points, and didn’t record a single block?!?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – KCP sighting! He’s turning out to be a very poor man’s DeMar DeRozan. As in, scores a little but nothing else. Even that is a big leap… But had himself a decent fantasy line of 7-14 (2-6 3PTM) 16/4 with an errant block. Some of the scoring was inflated with the junk time he got late, but the longer Rodney Stuckey (should be back soon) and Will Bynum (looks to be a while) remain out, KCP will improve and may end up starting all year. Speculative add in even deep 14-teamers I’d say.

Andre Drummond – I can’t even make something up a narrative about a slow night (8/8/0/0/2) turning into a trend as this was just a blowout after the tip. Not worried, still feel very wrong to hate on him.

Deron Williams – The ankles are back! And he played great for 25/3/7 on 10-16 shooting. The buy low window is fairly shut now, but he’s as risky as any as a top-end able player.

Paul Pierce – Returns against his former team, comes off the bench and goes 4/7/3. Only took three shots and missed them all, but this was a solid 22:13 he gave you. Worth a roll of the dice if he was dropped in all but the shallowest of leagues.

Kobe Bryant – This is why fantasy is so much better than real life NBA reporting! You don’t see Kobe headlines everywhere! Shot a much better 6-11 for 20 Pts and is looking like he was worth the draft day draft-and-stash. Although maybe not worth the Lakers sign-and-hope as they lost again to the Suns. Womp womp.

Steve Blake – Another dimebag! The impetus for one of my favorite terms went 9/5/10 and still getting huge minutes. He had a bum elbow and the Lakers had a very long stretch off last week, worth an add if he was dropped for those needing medicinal assistance.

Robert Sacre – The starting center the past two games gets…. A DNP-CD last night. Doh-Toni-ed!

Jordan Hill – Doesn’t even get to 20 full minutes and goes for 13/7/2 with no turnovers shooting 5-6. Hill must’ve done something Dwight-ish and pissed off Kobe, chasing Hill out of the starting line-up…

Gerald Green – He was useful, but as I kept saying, he’s terrible when not getting starting run. 17:09 for 3/1/0/0/0/0 hitting a trey but had 3 TOs. Should be nowhere near a roster right now except in the deepest of leagues.

Marcus Morris – Went off at the same time his brother did! 10-13 for 22/4/5.

Markieff Morris – 15/7/3 going 6-10. I still don’t think either will be sure-fire, must-own 10-team consistent options, but both are worth owning while hot. And when both are on, the Morris family rejoice.

Goran Dragic – Abused the Lakers. 31/2/5 on 9-18 going 2-6 from deep and 11-11 from the freebie line. My RCL 1 team, autodrafted by emergency, has the slightest bit of something to be optimistic about, and might sneak by the 1st place Mr. Scrubs.

Next Game: I’ve got CHI @ NYK tonight. Yes, I just wretched as well. Maybe the highlights won’t be so bad if there aren’t any highlights to be had! Be sure to set your line-ups and hoe your teams kill it tonight!

Looking like DJ Augustin is heading to the Bulls. The D-League is calling Teague back.

I think KCP is going to have a eureka moment and play really well. If he hits his jumpers he should stay in the game. 0.9 steals in 23 minutes is pretty solid. I expect 1.5 in 32 minutes before too long. Yes I still want him in the REL bad!

World Peace 2/2 with 2 TOs in 20 min. A starter.
Shumpert 2/4/4 1 stl. 1 blk. in 22 min. A starter.
Hardaway 9/0/1 with 1 3PTM, 1 block, 1 TO in 22 min. Not a starter.
Out of the 9 Knicks players who got 19+ minutes. Hardaway was the only one with a positive +/-. This is seriously getting out of hand.

The trade I proposed of Pek for IT2 yesterday may be slowed by Lawson’s hammy. Even if I have to up the deal to Gortat for IT2 it should be a good deal, right? Larry Sanders should be capable of filling either spot, I’ve also got a buffer in the standings in big man stats so waiting a few weeks shouldn’t be a problem. The guy only has 2 true bigs, not sure why he wasn’t already stashing Sanders.

Have you got any other possible sneaky trade targets for a team looking for 3s, Asst, FT%? A guy that Pek or Gortat could land (assuming this deal may not happen).

I’d really like to move a combo of bigs to land a guard but no one is biting! I feel like Ariza has the most value in terms of “movable” assets but even then, still no bites. Do you think a deal Ariza for Goran Dragic would be OK? SF seems like a deep position with Tobias Harris on wavers and DeMarre Carroll my safety blanket.

The unspoken rule in our league seems to be if they’ve been on wavers for any period of time YOU CANNOT TRADE THEM! Ridiculous but even the Marc Gasol owner has no interest what-so-ever in Koufos! Ridic!

@WNWDOTCOM: Well, I got a deal done. I traded my John Henson and Terrence Jones for Goran Dragic and Kenneth Faried. I don’t know, the way Henson is playing, I overpaid but I needed/wanted another guard. Faried, ugh, he’s stuck in that Denver rotation and I’ll try to sell him off a good game or end up dropping him for someone like Larry Sanders. The fun of fantasy!

@WNWDOTCOM: I just wanted to say in a 12 teamer or under I tend to avoid the replacement players. I feel like there are enough good players to be found in free agency that if I think they will not help my team in the playoffs then they really have very little value to me. Also in 12 teamers or lower I don’t like having my injured players backup. It is nearly impossible that both will help in the playoffs. Then again I make the assumption I’m going to make the playoffs and plan off of that assumption. Things like all Warriors are unownable because they have a terrible playoff schedule. At least Yahoo default playoffs. That all changes in Roto and deep leagues but in general that’s how I feel.

I always find PGs the hardest to trade for. No one ever seems to have an extra one unless that player has issues, like Felton. On draft day PGs tend to be my priority and I always rank them higher just because I know they are tough to trade for. Ariza is one of those guys with an established value irregardless of how well he’s playing. Annoying when trying to trade him away. Great when your trying to trade for him.

@Slim: this is a great strategy and probably one I’ll look to observe. The team I drafted was very strong but I got caught up in making some bad trades and overpaying for talent. As a result, my depth was effected and I had to result to rostering replacements. This was especially true when the injury big started to bite. My frusturation with the lack of moves In our league has to do with the Marc Gasol owner also rostering Asik and one of the Morris twins when he won’t even consider a deal with Koufas as a throw in.

But my team appears to be on the mend and hopefully I can get a run with Sanders and/or Harris when healthy to not only make the playoffs but win!

Steve Blake was just dropped and has cleared waivers, would you drop Robin Lopez, Kyle Korver or hold? Blake don’t play until Fri and only has 2 games left this match which is a bummer but just noticed Korver has 2 games as well, maybe he’s the drop.. Thanks

Is it sad that I laughed out loud on the subway this morning at your laughter at the Wolves’ boxscore? Answer: probably. Oh and I thought I’d done well trading Henson for Marc Gasol after he started heating up last week. Not so bullish on that with Henson stuffing the stats more greedily than Felton at the Knicks Christmas party buffet.

Is it worth dropping Hickson, H. Barnes, or Taj Gibson for T. Ross, T. Evans, Ersan, W. Chandler, Middleton? Or should I just stay put for now. Don’t really anything in particular, just feel like some of those have mad upside and need to snag Tyreke already being day to day before someone else does. Thanks man!

Hey man, no question today, just want to say that as a longtime fantasy player I really enjoy watching the highlights. It’s an amazing addition to just looking at stat lines and watching games here and there, and also quite entertaining. So thanks for doing what you do!

I traded away my Irving, Jennings, and Lee for his Westbrook, D-will, and crippled anthony davis
and
i traded away my hayward for his beal

We only have three bench spots and no IR, butI have an easy schedule for the next four weeks, with two of the teams im facing combining for a 1- 11 record so thought i’d make some moves for the future. Good idea?

@JB Gilpin: @JB Gilpin: Good points, I was stubbornly holding onto Mclemore and then scooped up T Ross with the news of the trade. These older guys are proven and should pick it up once they get going@JB Gilpin: why you so mad at McLemore? sounds personal lol

JB, need ur help! 12 teams h2h. I was offered Paul George for Anthony Davis. My team got hit by the injury Bug..bad! Davis, Beal, Butler, Sanders all hurt! and Parson has back issues. smh. Still early in the year but what do u think?

@JB Gilpin: Jordan Crawford. I know Nene has been good when he plays, but is his injury proneness something i gotta rid my team of in order to stay competitive? Big man stats arent as hard to find on the wire usually

@JB Gilpin: lol im playing the exact opposite that you said 🙁 haha I dropped lawson for it 2 and BLEDSOE for jru when he got hurt. We can only own 2 pg so I can’t have hurt pg if he has 2 healthy pg waiver is pretty deep so I can pick and choose from top 7-8 ranked up

I was thinking of dropping Mayo for Manu, my only issue is I also have Duncan and Parker. I ‘m a little nervous about committing too much to one team, albeit a good one? Should I go for it? It’s an 8 team H2H with standard Yahoo roster, so the waiver wire is deep.

JB, I took ur advice and traded away AD for PG. Now, I have another offer on the table. Chris Paul for my Kyrie Irving. Thoughts??? I am trying to stay afloat due to injuries. Beal, Sanders, Butler, Parson (back) problem. Thanks a million!